Luster restored on two statues memorializing leaders from Paterson

Countless people have passed by the monuments to James Fleming Stewart and William Hughes, two larger-than-life bronze figures that were slowly turning green, as they entered the Passaic County Courthouse in Paterson for about 100 years, and at least a few of them must have asked the basic question:

Who are these guys?

The short answer is that Stewart was a local judge from Paterson, known for his fiery oration, who went on to serve four terms in Congress, from 1895 to 1903.

And Hughes was an Irish immigrant who, as a child, worked in Paterson's textile mills, then became a lawyer and got into politics. Apparently, he didn't forget where he came from when he served four terms in Congress and one in the U.S. Senate, sponsoring bills to outlaw child labor and representing Paterson silk strikers in court. The inscription on his monument says he gave "outstanding service in Labor's cause."

This week, a crew from the American Monument Company stripped off the green coat of oxidation from both monuments and applied a protective coating that made Stewart and Hughes look like they were created yesterday. Workers also cleaned up the granite base on each monument, once again making the inscriptions legible for the generations of courthouse visitors to come.

"These monuments now look the same as the day they were unveiled," said Greg Boyajian, the owner of American Monument Company, which is based in Englewood.

Boyajian added that oxidation can't be prevented but that it will be at least 15 years before the statues need more restoration work.

"You can't stop time," he said.

The monument to William Hughes(Photo: Richard Cowen/NorthJersey.com)

The Stewart monument, which was erected in 1907, was the first publicly commissioned sculpture by Gaetano Federici, the Italian artist whose works are spread throughout Paterson. The Hughes monument was also the work of Federici, but much later, having been unveiled at a ceremony in 1927.

The restorations cost $27,000 and are part of the renovation of the courthouse complex on Hamilton Street. Another of Federici's sculptures, the "Dublin Spring Boy" on nearby Oliver Street, has also been restored.

Although battered by decades of sun, wind, rain and pollution, Hughes' likeness maintains the senator's slightly relaxed stance, his right thumb set in his trousers and his leg slightly bent at the knee.

Stewart, by contrast, is frozen in the dramatic stance of the orator, with right arm thrust skyward and the other tucked behind his back.

Edward A. Smyk, the Passaic County historian, acknowledged that not much is known about either Stewart or Hughes, and more research is needed. But they were obviously respected by Paterson residents.

William "Billy" Hughes(Photo: Passaic County Historical Society)

“Those two statues were funded by private sources," he said. "They were put there for a purpose, and that was to remember these men for their humanitarian deeds.”

The fundraising drive for the Hughes monument was led by Harry B. Haines, the legendary publisher of the Paterson News, who was Federici's main benefactor. Thousands of people attended the dedication of the Hughes monument on June 25, 1927, and William Green, the president of the American Federation of Labor, delivered the keynote address.

A front-page article in the Paterson News offered this tidbit from Green's speech that day:

"In characteristic fashion, he gave freely to the cause of the strikers who were fighting for the realization and enjoyment of economic and industrial freedom and for the humanization of the industry,” Green said.

The artist Gaetano Federici in his studio working on the William Hughes sculpture. At right is a model standing in for William Hughes.(Photo: Courtesy of Passaic County Historical Society)

While in Congress, Stewart, a Republican, served as chairman of the congressional committee that oversaw spending on the U.S. Navy. That was a key position at a time when the United States was building a world-class Navy in order to flex its imperial muscle.

After serving four terms in Congress, Hughes was named a judge in Passaic County in 1912 by then-Gov. Woodrow Wilson. He was on the bench only a year when the New Jersey Legislature appointed him a U.S. senator, and he served until 1918. At the time, U.S. senators were appointed by the Legislature, and not elected.

Once in the Senate, Hughes, a Democrat, pushed bills to raise a soldier's pay from $15 to $20 a month and creating the eight-hour workday, and favored antitrust legislation. He also supported various laws against animal cruelty and opposed tariffs on art and sculpture, according to congressional records.

"He began as a radical. He continued in Congress as a radical, and he completed his career in the Senate as a radical," said Henry Hollis, a senator from New Hampshire, who eulogized him.

Neither man lived a particularly long life. Stewart died in 1904, a year after leaving office, at the age of 53. Hughes died in office on Jan. 30, 1918, at age 46. Both are buried in Cedar Lawn Cemetery in Paterson.